U.S. State Department approves sale of Patriot missiles to Netherlands

The U.S. Department of State has approved a possible foreign military sale to the Netherlands of Patriot missiles.

The sale, which was announced by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) on 5 September, is valued at $105 million and covers the Recapitalization (RECAP) of four Netherlands Patriot Fire Units.

The sale includes a variety of recapitalization services to the Netherlands including radar sets, processors, control stations, launch equipment, upgrades and other services, testing and other related elements of logistics and program support, which will produce fire units at the Configuration 3+ capability.

According to the DSCA’s statement, this proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a NATO Ally, which is an important force for political stability and economic progress in the European region.

This sale improves the Netherlands’ capability to meet current and future enemy threats. The Netherlands will use the enhanced capability to strengthen its homeland defense and deter regional threats, and provide direct support to coalition and security cooperation efforts. The Netherlands will have no difficulty absorbing this upgraded equipment and support into its armed forces.

Patriot is a long-range, all-altitude, all-weather air defense system to counter tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and advanced aircraft. Patriot is produced by Raytheon. Raytheon has built more than 220 Patriot fire units and delivered them to customers in 16 nations.

Since January of 2015, Patriot has intercepted more than 100 ballistic missiles in combat operations around the world; more than 90 of those intercepts involved the low-cost Raytheon-made Guidance Enhanced Missile family of surface-to-air missiles.

Those engagements were possible because Patriot is built on a foundation of more than 3,000 ground tests and over 1,400 flight tests.